BrickJournal #80

Issue 80 • July/August 2023

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Building LEGO® Castles with builders Pantelis Manthos & Barthezz Brick

Custom Phineas & FerbTM minifigures!

Building instructions & more!

Tour Guillaume Greuzard's Castle Metropolis

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Issue 80 • July 2023

Contents From the Editor....................................................2

People Udo King’s Mont-Saint-Michel..........................................3 Andrew Tereshchenko: Building Figures............................................10

Building Guillaume Greuzard: Castle Builder..................................................16 A Visual Tour of Guillaume Greuzard’s Castle Metropolis..........................................18 Barthezz Brick’s Assassin’s Creed: Venice 1486................24 BDD Builds Goes Medieval!.........................30 Pantelis Manthos’ Building in a Frame... And More!...............................34 All About Character!.......................................38 Minifigure Customization 101: “I Know What We’re Gonna Do Today!”........................................................44 BrickNerd Instructions: Harmony Castle.............................................53 You Can Build It: MINI Sea Serpent..........................................57

Community Down on His Luck: An Australian Painting Pop-up MOC................................62 Bantha Bricks: Pierre-Luc Belanger’s XJ-6 Airspeeder.............................................68 Community Ads...............................................78 Last Word.............................................................79 Classic AFOLs.....................................................80

July 2023 Issue 80

From the Editor: Hi!

Publisher John Morrow

This issue is themed toward castles, but not the castles you see in LEGO sets.

These are builds made by fans inspired by the Castle sets of past and present.

Editor in Chief Joe Meno BrickNerd and Assistant Editor Dave Schefcik

You’ll also see castles of different scales, from the miniscale Mont-Saint Michel to minifgure scale castles. You’ll also see some castle-inspired figures.

Photography Editor Geoff Gray Proofreader John Morrow

Japanese Bureau Editor Nathan Bryan West Coast Editors Ashley Glennon

Bantha Bricks Correspondent Steven Smyth

Contributors: Pierre-Luc Belanger,Jared Burks, Christopher Deck, Bart Deliën, Brett Donaghue, Brian Everett, Jane Gibbons-Eyre, Guillaume Greuzard, Udo King, Pantelis Manthes, Liam Mohajeri Norris, David Strenzler, Andrew Tereshchenko, and Greg Hyland.

Many thanks to the websites who have served as mirrors for BrickJournal: www.LUGNET.com, www.Brickshelf.com, www.peeron.com, www.brickmodder.net www.rustyclank.com

About the Cover: Guillaume’s Greuzard Castle Metropolis proudly stands at his home.

Photo by Guillaume Greuzard.

About the Contents: Another view of Bart Deliën’s Assassin’s Creed layout.

Photo by Bart Deliën.

The BrickNerd gang has created a castle that you can build, and Chris Ddeck built a ship for building... and there’s more... ...so sit back and take a look!

Joe Meno P.S. Have ideas or comments? Drop me a line at brickjournal@gmail.com. I’m open to suggestions and comments and will do my best to reply.

P.P.S... Yes, BrickJournal has a website—www.brickjournal.com! Twitter? Yep, there too—http://twitter.com/brickjournal. Facebook? Yup—http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=58728699914&ref=mf.

Or you can scan the bottom codes with a QR reader!

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Glossary AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO) AFFOL (Adult Female Fan of LEGO) TFFOL (Teen Female Fan of LEGO) NLSO (Non-LEGO Significant Other) MOC (My Own Creation) TLG (The LEGO Group) BURP (Big Ugly Rock Piece) LURP (Little Ugly Rock Piece) POOP (Pieces­—that can be or should be made—Of Other Pieces)

Facebook

Subscriptions

SNOT (Studs Not on Top) LUG (LEGO Users Group) LTC (LEGO Train Club) MECHA (a large armored robot on legs, typically controlled by a pilot seated inside) MECH (a large piloted combat robot) DARK AGES (usually teen years, when you drift away from building) STUDS OUT (building where the studs on bricks face the viewer)

BrickJournalTM issue 80, July/August 2023 (ISSN 1941-2347) is published bi-monthly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Periodicals postage paid at Raleigh, NC. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to BrickJournal, c/o TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614.

Joe Meno, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. BrickJournal Editorial Offices: 6701 Coachman Drive, Springfield, VA 22152, USA. E-mail: admin@brickjournal.com.

Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Six-issue subscriptions: $73 US, $111 Elsewhere, $29 Digital Only, and can be purchased at www.twomorrows.com. LEGO ®, TECHNIC, MINDSTORMS, Belville, Scala, BIONICLE, ExoForce, Mars Mission, World City, and other LEGO theme lines are trademarks of the LEGO Group of companies. Star Wars TM & © Lucasfilm. All articles, photos, and art © BrickJournal Media, LLC, TwoMorrows Publishing and the respective writers, photographers, and artists. All rights reserved. All trademarked items are the property of their respective owners and licensees. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

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BrickJournal and its staff would like to thank the LDraw community for the software it makes available to the community, which we use for making all of the instructions and renderings in this magazine. We would especially like to thank Kevin Clague for his continued upgrades of the LPub tool that is a part of the LDraw suite. For more information, please visit http://www.ldraw.org.

Located off the French coast, Mont-St-Michel is a tidal island that was built up as a commune. Only a few hundred meters from the mainland, the site was accessible to pilgrims during low tide, but also defensible, as the high tide would protect the island from invaders.

Mont-Saint-Michel and its surrounding bay were inscribed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1979 for its unique aesthetic and importance as a medieval Christian site. Over three million people visit it annually.

Builder Udo King created this model of the site, which has a footprint of 96 studs (two large baseplates) by 96 studs, and stands at about 40 bricks high (15 inches or 38 centimeters). In terms of time, this was about 70 hours of building and uses over 20,000 LEGO elements.

Photos were used for building reference, and what’s unusual about the model is that the building technique is traditional. There is very little sideways (or SNOT) building—walls are angled with wedge bricks and plates.

People

Udo King’s

Mont-SaintMichel Article and Photography by Udo King

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It’s easy to get a better appreciation of the model by looking around its perimeter. Udo built this to microscale (the same scale used by the LEGO Architecture sets), which was helpful to control the size, but created another set of challenges in terms of replicating details in a smaller than standard size.

Another point of interest is that there are not very many LEGO studs that are seen. Roofs and roads are mostly smooth, which help reinforce the scale being shown. The colors chosen for the model also make it more realistic.

Udo has been building for over twenty years and has built other impressive models. He got back into building when he got a box of his childhood LEGO from his mother, when he became a father. In the box was an old spaceship, and, as he puts it, “I got infected with the LEGO virus again.”

His favorite themes are Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings. Udo builds in either microscale of minifigure scale and loves building big.

Udo explains: “With LEGO I have the opportunity to build anything I can think of. The only limit to implementing this is the scale. The bricks determine the proportions of the model. “ Some views of Mont-Saint-Michel.

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I love building big. With LEGO I have the opportunity to build anything I can think of...

I build the world as I like it.

Of all of his builds, Mont-Saint-Michel was the hardest to complete because of its complexity. The site had been on his mind for a long time before he found the inspiration to concentrate on building it.

The result is amazing. The model is an accurate 3-D map of the site, which is something Udo enjoys: “I love to build things from photos, and I love the challenge of building something in such a way that everyone who knows the original immediately recognizes my builds as these.”

A top view of Mont-Saint-Michel.

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The central ‘box’ is made. The tall yellow pole is the final height of the island and is a building reference.

More of the island is added, with the main steeple built and in place. A reference photo shows a top view of Mont-Saint-Michel with various measurements and markings.

A closer look at the framework for the model.

Adding buildings and walls.

Building an Island Shown here are some work photos showing the progression of construction of Mont-Saint-Michel.

After the base dimensions and seascape is defined, a core structure is built to support the island buildings and start defining the form. From there, the island is expanded outward to make way for walls and roads.

Finalizing building and street placement. The white bricks are reference marks for buildings.

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Udo’s method for building is straightforward: • Get idea, get photos.

• Set the scale to roughly size the model.

• Determine overall dimensions (height, length, width).

• Prepare LEGO elements from his stock (totalling two million).

• Make a construction plan and start building.

For his large models, Udo needs between 40 and 125 hours to complete his creations. It’s a process of building to the references and can take time in building and sometimes rebuilding.

For builders, Udo offers this advice: “Only build what you like and have fun with. Don’t put yourself under pressure and only build what you dare. Don’t glue anything and use all original bricks and elements.”

“If you are satisfied, show it to others—for example, on Instagram.”

More views of the model.

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Hoth.

Udo King’s

MOC Gallery Barad-Dur.

Here’s some favorite models by Udo, including Hoth, Barad-dur, Tatooine, and Hogwarts. All of these show his affinity for detail and love of size.

Hogwarts.

Tatooine.

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People

One of Andrew’s creations, a scribe from the videogame Stronghold.

Andrew Tereshchenko:

Building Figures Article and Photography by Dan Rubin Andrew Tereshchenko.

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Andrew Tereshchenko has been building for the past nine years, and in that time has made impressive sculptures that look more like detailed action figures. Back then he collected sets off the shelf. He got tired of collecting, and the last sets he collected were from the 2000s: Knights Kingdom II, Vikings, and Spongebob Squarepants.

Andrew started building his own models like other AFOLs—he got impressed by some image/character, or found some piece is similar to X in object Y, which would lead him to building object Y. Building is absolutely unpredictable for Andrew. Completing a model is a process that can take a couple of days, maybe even a month. For a few projects, it can take six months, a year, or more. Andrew isn’t in a hurry to build—today, he may be thinking of what pieces can be applied to a face, for example; and tomorrow he will be able to connect two or three

Can you find this part in Lothar’s face?

Lothar from the game Gothic II.

Lothar’s interior structure.

of them. The day after tomorrow, he may realize that nothing will work, and the next week he will finally connect more. After that, he’ll assemble the nose, then find that it won’t connect to the rest of the model design, and put the model aside until he comes up with a new look and solutions to continue.

For unusual applications of parts, Andrew mentions three of his models:

Can you find these parts on Aun’Va’s face?

1. Lothar from Gothic II: using the Shoretrooper helmet from Rogue One as the bottom half the face.

2. Aun’Va from Warhammer 40k: the forehead is built from the Sweet Mayhem Happy Meal toy that was released for the LEGO Movie 2. The nose comes from Jayko’s torso from Knight’s Kingdom 2.

Aun’Va.

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3. Ned Stark with his Duplo ice cream cone costume.

Building a model starts with Andrew looking for details that he wants to become the ‘highlight’ of the model, like using a LEGO dog element as a nose. From there he focuses on the most time-consuming areas, such as the head, so he can determine the scale of model for completing other sections. His models are much larger than minifigure scale, which allows all sorts of opportunities for adding detail and building techniques.

Andrew explained his method of building:

Ned Stark from Game of Thrones.

Ned’s costume part.

1. At the beginning, he evaluates what he has in his collection of LEGO elements. He sorts his parts out by colors and separate shapes. It will take longer to look for something that is definitely needed, but this also lets him stumble upon parts he completely forgot about, and lets him think of alternative methods.

2. He writes down a list of all the ideas that he has, and roughly describes how he sees the model composition.

The interior of the Wise Mystical Tree, showing the structure behind the eyes.

Lord Garithos from Warcraft III.

The Wise Mystical Tree.

The interior of Lord Garithos seen from the back.

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3. He takes a look at the works of other builders—but (this is very important) does not try to repeat their work completely. Many builders have large collections, so Andrew takes a closer look at some techniques that are available to him with his collection, that are understandable to him in application and suitable for his ideas. From there, he finds what kind of element or technique is available to him and his collection. It is always better to start from small to large.

A close-up of Lord Garithos.

Defining the face.

A diorama inspired by the game Total War.

A look at the head showing its details.

4. With regard to strange pieces— there may be a certain part in Andrew’s work that will be difficult to show with ordinary elements. He finds all the minifigure parts that match the color needed, looks at each one, and thinks about which one will be most useful. Initially, this was hard.

5. He thinks about how suitable elements can be connected to his model.

This is almost the most difficult moment of construction, so keep in mind that the pieces do not need to be connected everywhere!

6. If Andrew has several options, he builds everything and compares what he likes best. He doesn’t hesitate to rebuild the same element of a model

The centurions built in microscale.

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several times because Andrew is not in a hurry. He also tries to optimize the interior design so there is enough space for further items.

7. If he has a desire to post a work, he isn’t shy and posts right away, covering as many sites as possible, including non-LEGO sites that cover the same theme. The more places the post goes to, the more feedback. This makes it easier to improve his skills.

The hardest build that Andrew has done was a rendition of the cover to the game Medieval II: Total War. While he went far from the source material, he maximized the details he could place in the model. The face has a spider as a central feature, lion shoulder pads, and a guard from what he had on hand. He even made fabric folds—in general, it is not easy to do organic areas in models.

Future projects include collecting Dragonstone from Game of Thrones in minifigure scale. Another idea is to portray Genestealer cults in Warhammer 40K with LEGO, which Andrew has already started with “Achilles.”

Andrew wants to convey his style to the public and perhaps it will inspire someone. His advice for builders: Andrew’s rendition of the Medieval II: Total War cover.

“You can assemble everything from LEGO... do not limit your imagination, even if you think your idea is crazy and that no one else will understand it. Do not hesitate and create!”

You can see more of Andrew’s work at his Flickr gallery: https:// www.flickr.com/ people/157683746@ N05/ or you can scan this QR code!

Achilles, with Warhammer 40k miniatures.

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by MARK VOGER

Remember when long-haired British rock ’n’ rollers made teenage girls swoon — and their parents go crazy?

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Written and designed by MARK VOGER (MONSTER MASH, GROOVY, HOLLY JOLLY), BRITMANIA features interviews with members of THE BEATLES, THE ROLLING STONES, THE WHO, THE KINKS, HERMAN’S HERMITS, THE YARDBIRDS, THE ANIMALS, THE HOLLIES & more. It’s a gas, gas, gas!

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People

Guillaume’s remake of the Imperial Trading Post.

Guillaume Greuzard:

Castle Builder Article and Photography

by Guillaume Greuzard 16

Guillaume Greuzard (gui.lego on Instagram) is a French LEGO fan. During the week, he works in an insurance company, but off-work, he builds. One of his recent builds is titled Medieval Metropolis and is a detailed layout of a town from the Middle Ages. This model is one of Guillaume’s favorite and hardest builds because he was able to use different colors and add some touches of fantasy.

He has built other models too—Guillaume’s been building since 2017, when he returned to building from a 25-year Dark Age. He recalls as a boy playing for hours with his minifigures, trying to make big battlefields. As an adult, he realized the endless possibilities LEGO bricks can give you… it became more than a simple toy.

In spite of the years between his building as a boy and an adult, his favorite themes have remained the same: Castle and Pirates! He also really is a fan of the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, as they are very similar to Castle, with a fantasy touch. He also likes the old Cowboy sets and some Ninjago, but if he had to choose two, he would keep the Castle and Pirates!

Guillaume began his AFOL days as a set collector, trying to get the sets he didn’t have when he was younger. He got so amazed by what some builders made and displayed at exhibits or on Instagram, that he decided he had to try building original creations himself.

More views of the Imperial Trading Post.

For Guillaume, building a MOC starts with an idea, even a little one. He draws little sketches to remember his original idea, but nothing else. From there, he starts building. He’s not a fast builder, so it can take some time to make progress. Guillaume’s Castle Metropolis took about a year to complete. The biggest of the three buildings was very quickly designed by hand. The tan house was inspired by a fantasy digital design found on Instagram, and the green house was another Guillaume design.

Inspiration comes from many different directions—sometimes Guillaume is inspired by a real building, sometimes by a video game. Sometimes he challenges himself to build something with a specific technique or specific parts. Medieval Metropolis has some favorite details that Guillaume added for the building challenge: the wooden balcony, which is very fragile and looks ready to collapse, and the realistic building techniques for the walls and masonry. He also made an Imperial Island creation where he had to build round walls—that was quite challenging.

Building is Guillaume’s way to express his creativity. He has always wanted to do this, but never has made music or painted, for example, or done other arts.

He found the creative possibilities with LEGO, and also discovered building is a great way to relax, no matter what is built: replica, set, or original creation.

His advice to other builders: “What are you waiting for? Take inspiration from other builders and learn some smart techniques and start building. You can make crazy things on a small surface!”

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Building

The Castle Metropolis.

A Visual Tour of Guillaume Greuzard’s

Castle Metropolis

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Guillaume Greuzard’s Castle Metropolis is an excellent example of not only building a set of buildings, but also building an environment. The display comes to life thanks to attention to detail, sideways building, and accents of color. Let’s take a close look at the display!

Laying the Land The entire display is built on a base of plates and bricks that raises everything off from the display level. The built base serves to separate the build from the table and creates a ‘stage’ for everything.

A closer examination of the edges shows that the ground of the display is studsup, but the edges are built with studs to the sides. This is done by building the ground level five plates high. Five plates height equals a length of two studs, so the level is two studs high. Using bricks that have studs on the side at the top allows a perfect fit for the sideways bricks.

You can see how this works in the close-up. The round plates on the right edge allow for the slope bricks to be added studs-up and merge with the ground level. The slopes in the center and left are sideways and attached by hidden bricks with side studs under the dark green round plate. The sideways bricks are not evenly placed, creating a shadow that creates an outline.

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Building Buildings The buildings are a variety of colors and show wear and tear with the irregular color and wall work. A wall is not smooth, so the brickwork will show. The woodwork acts as outlines and helps define the buildings.

Some of the buildings have interiors for viewers to see. These are faced outside, so the display is presented so all sides can be seen.

The roads use tiles and plates to make the surface rough. Random green tiles and plates show ‘moss’ and growth on the roads.

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On the left is a rough initial sketch of the layout. Simple notes and ideas

by Guillaume start his building and thought process on the layout, as seen on the next page.

Dressing the Layout If you want to think of this like building a movie set, there needs to be set dressing to make the layout look more authentic. Adding details like flags, hanging banners and vines give the layout a feeling of age—it takes time for a vine to go up a wall, for example.

Another element is adding props. The wagon above is a prop for the layout that can be placed freely on the layout.

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Looking Inside Interiors are a challenge for layouts, as they are often hidden by walls and roofs. In this case, though, one side of the layout has the buildings open to show interiors. This is very clever, as the facades of the buildings can be seen without the cutaways being distracting.

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Building a Building, Part 2 Here is a sequence of construction photos showing one of the buildings.

You can see sideways building (stonework), color use (different tans for the wall), and groundwork (tiles) on the model.

A really nice detail is the small door arch. You can see how it is built by taking a close look at the photo above—1 x 1 brackets are attached to 1 x 1 Technic bricks!

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Building

Barthezz Bricks’

Assassin’s Creed: Venice 1486

Article and Photography

by Bart Deliën Bart’s layout of Venice, from the game Assassin’s Creed.

One of the ships built for the diorama.

Barthezz Bricks is a page on Facebook (and gallery in Flickr) that centers on Castle building. The person behind the creations is Bart Deliën, a 37-year old dad from the Netherlands. During the day, he works as a Senior Content Manager at bol.com, an online e-tailer. Bart returned to building in 2017 after a Dark Age of twenty years.

Bart’s initial trigger back to the hobby started in 2016 when his parents wanted to move to a smaller house. They wanted to get rid of all of his LEGO, so they asked him what he wanted to do with it. He took in the collection and spent the next year sorting and rebuilding his sets from the ‘80s and ‘90s. Discovering that his sets were missing a lot of parts, Bart found Bricklink.com and joined the LEGO community.

When he saw the builds from Mark of Falworth (a Castle build) and Aliencat (a Dutch builder that made a fantastic city management build), that got him thinking: “That’s what I want to do as well.” The rest is history.

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Bart’s favorite theme is historical, definitely including the

Castle era. Looking at his galleries and builds, one can see his affinity for history.

A gondola made for the layout.

His builds are 90% his own imagination and fantasy. Bart very rarely searches for inspiration in existing things. He likes to imagine how it would look, or looked, back in its day. For his Venice diorama, he completely made up how it would have looked at that time. For his diorama of Lond Daer, he only had four lines of text from Wikipedia when he was asked to join a building collaboration. To build the diorama, he had to develop an architectural style and layout for the human race of Gondor that would blend in with the Lord of the Rings movies, as they are the main reference points for people.

Most of Bart’s builds take 300 to 400 hours within a fivemonth timeframe to complete—a typical layout is about three 48-stud by 48-stud baseplates. This includes the design and development phase, building, and taking photos.

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A closer look at the center the layout.

His latest model of Venice has taken much longer—three years! The layout could have been done much sooner, but other things happened in the past two years that were more important than building. Bart’s family had a baby boy, Jens, in 2020. They also bought a new home in 2021 which needed a lot of hours to complete, as they did everything themselves. Those put the LEGO building time on hold.

During this time, he also redid the layout a few times— once when he was six months into building and had 50,000 pieces used. He finally finished the build in 2022, which now totals four square meters.

Another ship in the layout, the Stella di Orione.

Some of the details can be seen here.

The assassin waits.

More views of the diorama.

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Eomer’s Hideout.

Eomer hiding out.

Bart’s baby announcement, which has two sides!

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For Bart, building is done with real bricks only, and he makes a simple top-sketch to work out the general idea.

From there, he starts building, trying to come up with new techniques and build prototypes. He lets everything develop along the way until he’s satisfied—which isn’t a quick process.

Bart’s hardest build was his first: Eomer’s Hideout. He had no experience, didn’t have the right bricks, and didn’t know where to start building. The build gave him a lot of insight into putting something like that together. He also learned how to take good photos, and learned some Photoshop skills.

Lond Daer.

His best build was the one for his family and friends announcing their baby. It was a perfect combination to bring his hobby to the table and make an outside-thebox announcement. It’s not a complicated build, but has sentimental value for his family. He still displays it on his desk, which is unusual. Typically, a model of his is taken down and re-sorted after photos and maybe displaying at a convention, which is a lifespan of a couple of months.

LEGO building is a way for Bart to relax and not get sucked up in the pace of digital life. For him, building is just some music with no screens or other distractions. He enjoys just building and letting his hands do the talking.

Bart had a burnout in 2018 because he thought that working was his life. He had lost himself in those thoughts for about seven years until it tore him apart. Building really helped him with his mental healing process, and he still holds on to those positive influences. Even if he can’t build (as he has less time with a family to care for), he still can really enjoy community builds.

Bart’s girlfriend was also an important part and real support in his life. LEGO was 30% of the healing process, and she definitely was the remaining 70%.

For advice, Bart offers this: “Start small, improve by building and trying and developing new techniques. Look to other builds or builders, but don’t look down on your work because you will get discouraged. They may be better, but they also came from your position and they also started from scratch in terms of size, amount of bricks, skill and execution.

“So never stop building. What I make you can as well, just give yourself the time to do it. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it’s still not complete—it’s constantly developing as we speak!”

You can see more of Barthezz Brick’s builds at his Flickr account: https://www.flickr. com/photos/151790575@N05/ or by scanning this QR code.

Building a ship.

Since he only does one project at a time, Venice is what he has finished recently. He also focuses on finishing what he starts. He’s never stopped or skipped a project because it wasn’t suitable at that moment, or the building magic wouldn’t come. He just puts the project aside for a couple of days and then returns to building. For future projects, he has a list that is a mile long, so he is not lacking in ideas.

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Building

BDD Builds

Goes Medieval!

Article and Photography

by Brett Donaghue Brett’s castle layout!

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My name is Brett Donaghue, and I live in Maryland in the U.S. For my full-time job, I am a statistician for the U.S. Department of Energy. I always built and played with LEGO when I was a kid, but I recently got back into the hobby around 2016 when my parents brought me my old collection that had been in storage at their house. Then I discovered BrickLink, which certainly helped me acquire more parts for building!

The bakery.

The blacksmith’s shop.

My favorite theme was always Castle/Knights Kingdom growing up, and I usually only build castles or other medieval-themed MOCs. I like to think that I have always been a “MOC builder.” Even as a kid I would build a LEGO set, but within a week I would disassemble and rebuild it into something completely different.

I get a lot of my inspiration from other MOC builders on social media, as well as from pictures and video games.

For my most recent Medieval Village MOC, I took a lot of inspiration from Mark Erickson (Mark of Falworth on Flickr/Instagram) and his Storst Castle MOC from 2020, as well as from the videogame Skyrim. I also took a lot of inspiration from the LEGO Ideas Medieval Blacksmith set, and most of my village buildings 31 are designed using similar techniques.

It can take up to a year or more to build a MOC, but there really is no set timeline. My Medieval Village MOC has been built, redesigned, and otherwise tinkered with over the last two-and-a-half years! And sometimes I feel that it could further be changed even still. I typically do not do much planning when building a MOC, outside of coming up with a general idea (how big, overall layout, etc.). The hardest part of the build was getting the rockwork to look good. This was my first real attempt at large-scale rock work, and it’s a very crucial and tedious part of building a landscape.

The aspect of my build I am most proud of is how detailed the landscape looks. I used to build in a more “classic” style with just green and blue plates for terrain and water, but in this MOC, I wanted to use more leaf pieces, as well as transparent plates and tiles to give more detail and depth to the terrain and water.

A watchtower.

The castle.

The stable.

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Brett’s windmill.

A couple things I would love to improve on is my rock work, and try different techniques instead of just using slopes and wedges. Also, most of my buildings in the MOC are in a normal grid or square pattern, and in future MOCs I would like to try and give more angled looks to buildings so it looks more realistic and authentic.

I have never been very good at writing, drawing, or other art forms. Building with LEGO is my art medium. I also find it very therapeutic to build with LEGO. I do not have another MOC in progress as of now, but I do have some initial ideas for my next MOC, and it will probably involve recreating a well-known location from the videogame Skyrim.

My advice to beginner builders is to just build whatever you want, and to not feel intimidated by other builds you see on social media or elsewhere. Every builder was a beginner at some point.

The inn room has sleeping quarters.

The tavern and inn, which has interior floors.

The first floor is the brewery.

The first floor is the tavern.

You can see more of Brett’s’ builds at his Flickr account: https://www.flickr.com/ photos/192932255@N08/ or by scanning this QR code.

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Building

Pantelis Manthos’

Building in a Frame... and More!

Pantelis’ frames, based on (top) Castle, (bottom left to right) Indiana Jones, the Hobbit, and Harry Potter.

Pantelis’ castle frame is visited by royalty.

Bart’s layout of Venice, from the game Assassin’s Creed.

Article and Photography

by Pantelis Manthos

Building into a non-LEGO item is a twist on building, but is starting to come into its own. There are simple plates that are used to mount LEGO minifigures in shadow box frames, but using a frame to make a LEGO shadow box vignette is relatively new. One builder has made some awesome vignettes using movies as inspiration.

Pantelis Manthos is one of those builders that never had a pause in building—he has been a builder for over three decades. From Greece, his love for LEGO, love for creativity, and the fact that he managed to design and build his own creations, made him love his hobby more and more.

Pantelis’ favorite theme is Castle, and he loves everything that has to do with them and the Medieval Era. The beauty and simplicity of the classic LEGO castles inspired him the most, and to start building his own creations.

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The castle frame, with some other builds by Pantelis.

His inspiration comes from favorite movies, beloved characters, as well as historical monuments around the world.

Building time depends on the project he has decided to work on. Usually, when he thinks of something that he wants to build, he tries to create it in a short period of time. For Pantelis, that means completing a build in ten or so days. He also tries to avoid using difficult parts as well as difficult techniques. He always thinks plainly, and just wants to capture the scene he has in mind with traditional techniques.

An example of his way of thinking is his latest creations, built inside IKEA frames. Using this type of build, he reduces the use of parts and can give focus to one specific scene. Considering parts, colors, and presentation, he starts the process of building.

A closer look at the castle frame.

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The hardest build that Pantelis has made so far is the monument of Petra, Jordan (a favorite scene from the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). The challenge for him was the limitation of the space available for building inside the IKEA frame. This is also the creation that Pantelis is most proud of. The model has a special characteristic about it that people focus on: the model looks deeper than the three studs it really is.

LEGO building is something really creative for Pantelis, as it challenges him every time to do more. It also gives him the feeling of becoming one of the characters in the scenes.

With the release of the new Rivendell set, he is in the process of building Lord of the Rings themed frames.

Pantelis’ advice to builders is to start building with some LEGO sets, observe the techniques used, and then insert their ideas and creativity to evolve the sets: “LEGO and ideas never dry up.”

You can see more of Pantelis’ builds at his Flickr account: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143463414@N07/ or by scanning this QR code.

Pantelis’ Petra frame.

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One of Pantelis’ castle builds.

37

Building

All About Character!

Article and Photography

by Liam Mohajeri Norris @brixter.productions

Ms. Marvel.

Building brick-built characters with LEGO has been a passion of mine for nearly a decade. I love the challenge of creating a well-known pop culture icon out of LEGO. If something in the build is off, it can ruin the entire model. When everything is just right, on the other hand, the recognition is instant. Figuring out how to build a character that hits this sweet spot is tricky, but so satisfying when done right. I have been iterating my character-building method for years, always trying to incorporate more playability and strength at a relatively compact scale.

Po from Kung Fu Panda.

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The evolution that has led to my current style started over six years ago, back in 2016. I had recently turned 13, and was finally able to submit my first LEGO IDEAS project: a brick-built Po from Kung Fu Panda. This build was quite different from the characters that would follow, but it does carry one important similarity to my later models: the scale. Most of my character builds have been of a similar action figure stature, slightly larger than Miniland scale but still workable and, importantly, playable. Unlike all the builds that would follow, this Po was not poseable.

However, within a year I was working on a follow-up project featuring Tintin that shares many more similarities with my recent work.

Tintin and Captain Haddock.

Building Tintin and Captain Haddock was my first attempt at creating poseable humanoid figures based on existing characters. Since these were built digitally, I had no way of knowing whether or not they would actually stand up, but I did my best to make them physically feasible. With the unlimited color palette of LEGO Digital Designer, I did not have to worry about parts such as Mixel ball joints only existing in certain colors, a challenge that has led to many of my later innovations. I never finished submitting this project; it still waits in my “Drafts” tab on LEGO IDEAS. Notwithstanding, these figures were an important step toward my later characters.

In 2017, I saw the trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (BotW) for the first time. I was captivated by its incredible vistas and sense of exploration. After seeing BotW gameplay live at a friend’s house, I knew I had to build a LEGO version of its protagonist, Link. I was in the middle of an overseas move with my family and had no access to my LEGO collection, so I turned to LDD once again. The resulting build had a number of issues with proportions, not to mention the lack of a head.

My first attempt at Link.

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In 2019, over a year after my ill-fated attempt at building Link, I felt compelled to try my hand at building a fantasy swordsman once again. However, I didn’t set out to build a preexisting character. This time, the idea began with a head featuring a 1x2 tile for a face. I wanted it to have a clean, stylized appearance so I intentionally shied away from building facial features, focusing on the overall form instead. Given the limitations of physical bricks, I chose pragmatic colors: light bluish gray for the tunic (Mixel joints only come in gray) and black for the boots (I had some 1x1 round plates with bars in black). The Swordsman took inspiration from my ill-fated Link attempt the year before, with similar legs and feet. I incorporated as much articulation as I could, including a new idea: in addition to having the ability to rotate at the hips, I added a point of rotation right below the chest to allow for more realistic poses. I was super happy with the result, and displayed the model at BrickFair Virginia 2019. Sean Kenney, the special guest at the convention, had stopped by my table to chat about a large animal build that I had brought.

Interestingly, he was especially enthusiastic about the swordsman. He liked its ability to convey character even at the small scale.

My swordsman.

My second version of Link.

A year later, following requests on my Swordsman YouTube video, I took the techniques I had developed and finally created a physical build of Link from Breath of the Wild. Translating the build of the Swordsman, which had unlimited creative freedom, to that of Link was a challenge. Link’s tunic is a brilliant blue, so I had to figure out a way to attach his arms without the same Mixel ball joint system—when I tried that, his shoulders looked far too big. Instead, I hit upon an idea that would make all my future characters possible: using the Bar 1L with 1x1 Round Plate for the shoulder joint. This allowed the upper arm to be thin, since pretty much any color can be used to sandwich the plate. This gives the torso more freedom, too, since the arm only needs a deep hollow stud for the bar to insert into. In the end, Link’s construction was quite different from the Swordsman. He was taller and more fleshed out, with even greater articulation—even the toes of his boots could move.

In 2021, I created a physical Michael Jordan build that literally expanded on these concepts—it stands much larger than my other characters—but on it I tried something new: creating a face. In this case, I took inspiration from other characters I had seen from talented builders who focused on the brow and nose. Given the build’s larger size, this worked well to convey Michael Jordan’s iconic appearance. However, the size also had its downsides; it was more fragile than my other builds, and harder to play around with and pose.

The new shoulder joint design.

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Later that year, I was inspired to create a figure of Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender, and wanted to use two white quarter round tiles as his smile. I built the head from there, and at first tried using an eye technique with bars through headlight bricks like on Tintin, but it just didn’t look right. I was using the Bar 1L with 1x1 Round Plate as the dot for the eye, but I noticed that it actually looked better the other way around—using the sideways part as the eye. Doing so also creates stud connections going out to both sides, vital for the creation of detailed hair. I had been experimenting with larger cartoony eye options on a Luigi head, so I was very excited about the possibilities that this new technique opened up on a smaller scale.

A new head design...

...and its breakdown.

Michael Jordan takes flight.

Mirabel from Encanto.

Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

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This past summer, after returning from competing on LEGO Masters Season 3, I started making more characters based on pop culture. First I gave Aang a body, then created Black Panther and more. With this new wave of builds, I have focused on not only appearance and poseability, but also on strength, trying to achieve LEGO set-level standards. Aang’s head technique has proven instrumental to building these characters with a unique, fun style. And that 1x1 round has really become my best friend when it comes to building these characters—I now use it in the lower leg as well (like on Spider-Gwen) since the bar connection is much stronger than a single stud.

Spider-Gwen.

Miles Morales.

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Over the years, I have been striving to create action figurescale LEGO characters that live up to their on-screen counterparts, and the innovations this has forced me to create have helped me grow so much as a builder. I hope that these will inspire you, too, to keep persisting on whatever you love building, even if it sometimes seems impossible. And don’t be afraid to change as you go!

The path is never simple, but there is always a way.

You can see more of Liam’s work and more on his Linktree page at: https:// linktr.ee/Brixter or you can scan this QR code!

Another Spider-Man.

Black Panther.

43

Building

Minifigure Customization 101:

Phineas and Ferb, Perry TM & © Disney.

“ I Know What We’re Gonna Do Today!”

There’s 60ish Days Between Every Issue...

Article and Photography

by Jared Burks

I Know What We’re Gonna do Today!

Reference art.

Caitlin, my daughter asked, “Whatcha doin?” to which I replied, “We’re making Phineas and Ferb Custom LEGO figures.” My wife inquired, “Aren’t you a little old to be doing that?” and I answered, “Yes, yes I am.”

Greyson, my son, joined in by asking, “Hey Dad, where’s Perry?” I told Greyson, “He’s just a platypus; they don’t do much.” Greyson replied, “Platypuses are the only mammals to lay eggs.”

Ultimately I decided to “Seize the day”­—well, couple of weeks—I am not Phineas after all, but “I like to keep moving forward.” B-b-b-but making the figures took a touch longer because I searched the entire Tri-State area and just really couldn’t find Perry the Platypus.

Great Googly-Moogly, I couldn’t merely make Phineas and Ferb. I of course had to include Perry the Platypus.

However, I quickly realized I had to make Agent P, to which my children replied, “That’s so cool.”

Backstory—I think it’s Best Expressed in a Song!

Oh wait, this isn’t an audio format. In retrospect, here are the details of my monologue describing my evil plan: I started out sculpting the heads using Fusion 360, as I still have not had enough time to work with Blender. I initially thought I would merely sculpt everything and print it out and paint all the various parts of these figures. While I started this way, I quickly paused after a few initial prints when I realized just how hard it was going to be to paint various areas of these figures. The eyes, for example, would be quite challenging.

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Head turnarounds of Phineas and Ferb.

Reflecting on what I was going to do, which seems like a recipe for evil, I decided to print each part of each figure separately so that I could use colored resin as a base. This way, if the paint is damaged through play, it would blend and hide the damage.

Well, if we are going to make the best Custom Figures Ever, better get started.

I quickly asked, “What am I looking at?” when it hit me that P&F are always in two dimensions —well, there is that one film, but I digress. I had to search the entire TriState area for multiple images from the show, and even look for the very rare moments where the characters turn around in the show.

I was really feeling for Candace during this time of the build. Not only did I have to figure out how to make a kid with an arrowhead attach to a LEGO torso, but I had to build a LEGO animal that has roughly the same proportions in two very different forms.

BEHOLD! THE PHIN-ERB-INATOR! Phineas

• Hair – Custom Designe d and P rinted • Head – Custom Designe d and P r • Eyes – Custom inted Designe d and P rinted • Shirt collar – Custom Designe d and P rinted • Torso Design v ia Masking - Paintin g

Platypus Printed Perry t–hCeustom Designed nanddPrinted ned a • Body d m Desig to s u C nd Printe – • Tail signed a e D m to Cus • Bill –

Ferb

om Designed • Hair – Cust and Printed ed stom Design • Head – Cu and Printed ed stom Design • Eyes – Cu and Printed r – Custom • Shirt Colla d Printed Designed an gn via Maskin • Torso Desig Painting

Agent P

• Hat – Modified LEGO Hat and Printed • Torso – Custo m Designed and Printed • Arms – Modifi ed LEGO Arm and Printed • Feet – Custom Designed and Printed • Bill – Custom Designed and Printed • Tail – Custom Designed and Printed

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Shaping Phineas’ head.

Adding eyes.

For Phineas, I started with a few basic shapes and created the basic shape for his head. I had to subtract a few features in order to get the final desired shape. I then created two ellipse-shaped eyes and subtracted them from the head. As Phineas is almost always smiling, I cut an area through the head and saved the cut area. I then reduced the size of the cut area and made this his smile.

From here I needed to create Phineas’ hair. I started with a basic shape and I merely rotated replicate parts around a central axis and then merged them all together. After merging, I removed the central portion so it would fit on top of Phineas’ head.

Adding hair.

Finishing touches, including adding a smile.

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The completed head.

For Ferb, his head is much easier to construct, as it is a tapered cylinder. I started with the boxy nose and rounded the edges. From there I merged this with the tapered cylinder. Ferb features eyes of two different sizes, so I created these using round spheres and subtracted these from the nose and head. Finally, I created Ferb’s hair, which was a bit more dynamic than Phineas. I started with the same basic shape as with Phineas and slightly modified each of the parts. By adding each of these parts together and subtracting the head from the parts, it allowed for the creation of Ferb’s hair. I then added a hole in Ferb’s head and a point at the bottom of the head.

I could have used a LEGO stud and stud accepter, but wanted these to be glued together, so I have a different thought here. Finally, I created a collar part for Ferb; I could have used the official LEGO version, but wanted one specific for Ferb’s head, and this allowed me to tailor it to the custom Ferb head.

Sculpting the hair piece.

Completing the hair piece.

Ferb’s head starts with his nose.

The head is added along with the eyes.

The completed head.

The finished figure.

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Perry the Platypus caused me some issues as I tried to figure out scale. I was thinking of using the LEGO alligator as inspiration, as the central body resembled the Perry toy in “Toy to the world” S1:E8, when the boys make a toy version of Perry called Perry the InAction Platypus.

However, when I created the sketch of Perry, I thought it too square and didn’t care for how it came out. I started over with the LEGO Pig as the inspiration. If I removed the head and merely added a tail, I thought it would make something closer to Perry. I started with a square body and tapered it down and replicated the LEGO pig body shape. From here I created a simple bill and tail; these will be key, as I will reuse them on Agent P. Ultimately I chose to remove the back stud, but could have easily added it to Perry.

Perry’s design started from a LEGO alligator.

Perry’s alligator-based design.

Perry’s final design came from a LEGO pig.

Perry’s eyes, beak and tail are added.

Perry’s final design.

Perry the Platypus.

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The Perry the Platypus was critical to Agent P. I merely took the Perry model and rotated it 90 degrees and cut off Perry’s legs. Next I added the bill and eyes to the front of the body.

I then cut arm holes and brought in the arms I created for my LEGO Minifigure model when I scaled up and made BigFigs. At this point, Agent P needed legs and feet. Perry has very distinctive legs in the Agent P form. For his feet, having them deep/big enough to connect directly to studs would be hard. Therefore, I created feet that wedged between the stud pattern on the plate. I then created the odd leg shape and attached it to the Perry body. For Agent P’s hat, I utilized an old trick. I opened LEGOCad and converted the LEGO Fedora to an object file. After having the OBJ file, I opened it and the Agent P body in Meshmixer and subtracted the body from the hat, which would allow the hat to attach (partially) to the head. As Agent P loses his hat, I didn’t want the hat to attach too firmly.

Agent P’s body being sculpted.

Adding Agent P’s fedora.

Eyes, beak and tail added.

Finishing Agent P.

Agent P.

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Painting Ferb’s parts.

Ferb’s hair.

The painted parts for Phineas.

“What did I miss?” At this point I had created all the needed parts and 3-D printed them on the Epax-X1 4k resin printer. I printed everything in white, red, cream, mint green, or homemade orange resin. As many of these parts are close to the needed color, but not perfect, I had always intended to paint them. I also wanted to attempt to paint the torsos with the needed parts to color the torso to replicate Phineas and Ferb’s outfits. “Hurry!”

Next I started painting the parts to finish creating the concepts I was after. Phineas has the most complex painting strategy. His shirt is striped and if I could find a perfect match to the LEGO Company’s orange, I could have done this more simply, but as I couldn’t, this took a bit of thought. Phineas’ torso was painted orange and his arms were marked off for his short sleeves and also painted orange. Then the torso and arms were further masked off with a 2mm Tamiya Masking Tape to preserve the orange stripe as the light yellow was applied next.

Once all the masking was removed, we had Phineas’ torso and arms painted to match his character. The neck part was also painted orange as he has a roundish area as his head meets his neck. Finally, his hair was painted red.

Ferb was a touch easier as I simplified his design. I cut the V in a piece of the Tamiya masking tape and centered it on the Purple Torso being used for Ferb. I then masked out the rest of the torso and painted the top of Ferb’s torso the same light yellow. I had to mask out his arms as well as I created his short sleeves too. Finally, his hair piece was painted green.

Perry the platypus and Agent P need very similar paint.

For them I painted the tail, bill, and feet. These were very straightforward. His Agent hat was a touch more complicated. Just as with Phineas, I painted the hat band black first. Once it dried, I masked it out and painted the rest of the hat brown.

The painted parts for Ferb.

The hardest part of the painting was determining how to hold the parts. In most cases I used double-sided tape; however, I also used some Silly Putty to hold smaller objects onto the wooden sticks. This takes some practice as you don’t want your part to fall off as you start spray painting or airbrush painting it.

The painted hair for Ferb (on left).

Painting Perry’s bill and tail.

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Agent P’s fedora.

Now that all the parts are painted, it was time to assemble the figures. At this point I have left the eyes without pupils, as I want them to be directional for now. This means I will add them digitally until I can create some water slide decals. I could paint them easily enough, but they all have a reflection spot and I want to get this correct.

So for now, I left them off and will add them later.

Completed figures.

While I had to create Perry’s feet in such a way as they didn’t go over a stud, it was still important to me that the attach to the LEGO baseplate. When Perry is in platypus pet mode, this is easy—I followed the example of the LEGO Pig. However, when Perry is in Agent P mode, he stands on two legs and this is much more complicated. I ultimately designed his feet to sit between four studs and connect via touching the edges. This makes Perry a halfstud standing element, but I could figure no other way other than connecting his feet to a base, which I wanted to avoid.

Perry the Platypus.

Phineas.

Ferb.

Agent P.

Agent P. standing on a plate.

Perry the Platypus on a plate.

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Finally, I wanted to have some fun and recreate a bit of the backyard for Phineas and Ferb to exist. In the show they commonly start in their backyard under a tree. Perry even uses this tree to enter his secret agent lair. Ultimately the guys build many an object, thing, whatever in their backyard.

I hope you enjoyed this creation as much as I have in making it. “Oh, there you are, Perry.” Hopefully these figures won’t disappear before you get to see them.

You can go to Jared’s webpage by going to http://www.fineclonier.com/ or scanning this QR code!

Starting the day.

Hey, where’s Perry?

Oh there you are...

Come back next issue for more Minifigure Customization!

Don’t miss Jared’s two books Minifigure Customization: Populate Your World! and its sequel Minifigure Customization: Why Live In The Box? (available at twomorrows.com).

On sale: $5 each!

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Harmony Castle

Design and Instructions by the BrickNerd Team Castles are iconic. From Neuschwanstein to Disney, their architecture sparks the imagination, from heroic knights to magical fairy tales. For the castle theme of this issue, we wanted to capture that same majestic feel and recreate it in microscale. This castle is a fortress fit for royalty with soaring towers, turrets, and more!

The castle is also a love letter to the LEGO System. It has a fun variety of special elements spanning almost five decades of LEGO that all fit together flawlessly in perfect harmony.

The flowers used in the spires were introduced in 1977 with Homemaker sets which integrate seamlessly with the party hats introduced in Friends sets from 2016. The rest of the model features everything from Mario bases (2020) to constraction barrels (2012) to Unikitty horns (2014) and even some Technic as well—a beautiful example of how well the LEGO System works together.

So get ready for your quest and start collecting pieces, because this timeless castle is ready to be built!

Parts List

(Parts can be ordered through Bricklink.com by searching by part number and color) Qty Part Color Description 8 35464.dat Bright Lt Blue Slope Brick 45 1 x 1 Double 1 32062.dat Black Technic Axle 2 Notched 3 24131.dat Medium Azure Figure Friends Party Hat 3 65468d.dat Medium Azure Minifig Food Cupcake with Hollow Stud 2 24866.dat Green Plate 1 x 1 with 5 Petals 4 3023.dat Bright Green Plate 1 x 2 1 66789.dat Bright Green Plate 6 x 6 x 0.667 with Rounded Corners with Studs on Edges without 4 Centre Studs 1 89522.dat Bright Green Animal Horn Spiral 2 6587.dat Dark Tan Technic Axle 3 with Stud 1 24246.dat Reddish Brown Tile 1 x 1 with Rounded End 3 85861.dat Reddish Brown Plate 1 x 1 Round with Open Stud 3 3024.dat White Plate 1 x 1 3 3742.dat White Plant Flower 2 4070.dat White Brick 1 x 1 with Headlight 2 18654.dat White Technic Beam 1 3 20482.dat White Tile 1 x 1 Round with Pin and Pin Hole 1 35480.dat White Plate 1 x 2 with Round Ends and 2 Open Studs 1 36840.dat White Bracket 1 x 1 - 1 x 1 Up 3 37762.dat White Cylinder 1 x 1.333 with 0.5L Bar and Bar Hole 2 71708.dat White Technic Beam 2 x 3 Liftarm Bent 90 Quarter Ellipse 2 73230.dat White Technic Brick 1 x 1 with Axlehole 6 85861.dat White Plate 1 x 1 Round with Open Stud 1 98585.dat White Technic Connector Circular with 2 Pin Holes and 3 Axle Holes 2 1748.dat Lt. Bluish Grey Tile 1 x 2 Half Round 2 2460.dat Lt. Bluish Grey Tile 2 x 2 with Pin 4 3070b.dat Lt. Bluish Grey Tile 1 x 1 with Groove 2 14769.dat Light Bluish Grey Tile 2 x 2 Round with Underside You can go to the Round BrickNerd website Stud 2 25269.dat Light Bluishhttps://bricknerd.com/ Grey Tile 1 x 1 Corner Round by typing: in your 6 89678.dat Dark Bluish Grey Technic Friction Pin 1/2 browser or by scanning this QR code!

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You Can Build It MINI Build

MINI Sea Serpent

Design and Instructions

by Christopher Deck

Hello and welcome everybody, I am excited to guide you through this issue’s building session! We have another castle-themed magazine this time, and as with the previous castle building sessions, we want to miniaturize an official castle set. Today we will have our focus on the popular knights’ boat Sea Serpent!

The set was released in the year 1992 and belongs to the castle sub-theme of the Black Knights. It was the largest boat of the castle series until then, and also the first one to use cloth sails, as introduced for the Pirates theme three years before. The Sea Serpent is still a very treasured set today, and thus our object of desire for today’s building session.

Miniaturizing a given set is always a challenge, as the original models are already small themselves. You need to be creative in parts use to obtain the original shapes in even smaller size. The build itself is very compact, consisting of more than sixty pieces!

We start with four red 1x2 bricks with studs on one side.

These set the beginning for the completely SNOT-built lower hull, but also are part of the original set’s color scheme that also has red color for the boat’s deck. Around these bricks, curved slopes and wedge plates form the boat’s basic shape. With recently appeared bracket pieces we are able to place studs on top again, needed for the superstructures. Two old offset plates, already around as long as we have Classic Space, form the forecastle and aftercastle. An old minifigure signal paddle is used for the bowsprit, minifigure brushes are used for the side paddles, and—again minifigure utensils—snowshoes are used for the rudders.

Parts List (Parts can be ordered from Bricklink.com by searching by part number and color)

Boat Hull and Masts Qty Color 1 Black 1 Black 1 Black 2 Black 4 Black 4 Red

Part 87994.dat 30374.dat 4095.dat 79389.dat 4070.dat 11211.dat

1 2

Black Reddish-Brown

4589.dat 3852b.dat

1 2 2 1 1 1

Black Reddish-Brown Black Green Black Blue

3900.dat 30284.dat 3024.dat 3024.dat 85861.dat 6019.dat

1

Yellow

4085b.dat

2 1

Black Black

3023.dat 3794a.dat

2 2 1 6 2 4 2

Black Blue Black Black Black Black Black

3710.dat 4590.dat 3022.dat 26601.dat 3176.dat 11477.dat 29120.dat

2

Black

29119.dat

2 2

Black Black

15712.dat 3070b.dat

Boat Sail Qty Color 1 Red 3 White 1 White 1 White 1 White 1 White

Part 87687.dat 3023.dat 3623.dat 3021.dat 11477.dat 29120.dat

1

White

29119.dat

2 1 1

White White White

61678.dat 15712.dat 3070b.dat

Description Bar 3L Bar 4L Lightsaber Blade Bar 6.6L with Stop Bracket 1 x 1 - 2 x 1 Down Brick 1 x 1 with Headlight Brick 1 x 2 with Two Studs on One Side Cone 1 x 1 Minifig Hairbrush with Short Handle Minifig Signal Holder Minifig Snowshoe Plate 1 x 1 Plate 1 x 1 Plate 1 x 1 Round with Open Stud Plate 1 x 1 with Clip Horizontal (Open U-Clip) Plate 1 x 1 with Clip Vertical (Thin U-Clip) Plate 1 x 2 Plate 1 x 2 without Groove with 1 Centre Stud Plate 1 x 4 Plate 1 x 4 Offset Plate 2 x 2 Plate 2 x 2 without Corner Plate 3 x 2 with Hole Slope Brick Curved 2 x 1 Slope Brick Curved 2 x 1 with Cutout Left Slope Brick Curved 2 x 1 with Cutout Right Tile 1 x 1 with Clip (Thick C-Clip) Tile 1 x 1 with Groove

Description Minifig Plume Dragon Plate 1 x 2 Plate 1 x 3 Plate 2 x 3 Slope Brick Curved 2 x 1 Slope Brick Curved 2 x 1 with Cutout Left Slope Brick Curved 2 x 1 with Cutout Right Slope Brick Curved 4 x 1 Tile 1 x 1 with Clip (Thick C-Clip) Tile 1 x 1 with Groove

The sail is brick-built and attaches the characteristic red sea dragon plume piece that is found on the bowsprit of the original model.

I hope you will enjoy building this little boat! See you next time and take care, all!

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Community

Down on His Luck by Jane Gibbons-Eyre.

Down On His Luck:

There is no doubt that Instagram has gained in popularity in recent years (especially during Covid) with the AFOL community. That community has grown to be quite massive really, and it hosts a variety of builders, set collectors, and smaller communities for one to follow.

Article by Brian Everett of BrickNerd.com Photography by Jane Gibbons-Eyre

I enjoy chatting with like-minded AFOLs and discovering new creations that I was not aware of when they are often shared by others, which is the reason I continue to spend so much time on the platform (way too much!).

An Australian Painting Pop-Up MOC

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Creative works being shared by others is exactly how I became aware of Jane Gibbons-Eyre. At the time, Bricktober 2022 was running and I was enjoying the highlight of many MOCs coming from that show. And then I spotted Down On His Luck, a MOC that looked like a painting that has popped off the canvas.

“Down on His Luck” by Australian Artist Fredrick McCubbin.

Image via Wikipedia.

Today, I am delighted to share a feature on Jane’s wonderful build, and a quick chat with her to go along with it!

Brian Everett: First, thank you very much for providing so many wonderful photos! I have to say, your MOC immediately caught my eye when I saw it, and it was quickly shared with the BrickNerd family. I see this was directly inspired by a real painting, which to me is already interesting, coming from an art background.

What specifically gave you the inspiration to recreate this painting?

Jane Gibbons-Eyre: Many, many years ago as a teen, I visited the Golden Summers art exhibition at my state art gallery. This showcased paintings by historic Australian artists, including Frederick McCubbin. These paintings left a strong impression on me, and have influenced many

A overhead look at the subject of the painting.

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aspects of my creative life since. It was natural for me to choose one of these iconic paintings to interpret in LEGO. The bush setting of Down On His Luck feels very much like the bush property where I live.

I really enjoyed your approach with this creation, taking a painting and making it come to life three-dimensionally. Yet we still get the nice frame standing vertically with an extended ground plane, really lending focus to the subject matter. What made you decide to take this approach, say, versus a mosaic?

I had seen the Starry Night LEGO set and loved the way the painting was interpreted in 3-D. I decided to create a 3-D painting but push the third dimension even further. I wanted to be able to build the focal character fully threedimensional and really embed him in the environment.

Figuring out how big to make the base and the background was an interesting challenge, and I went through a few revisions. I wanted the viewer to experience the same visual dimensions of the original painting, while at the same time bringing the foreground out a considerable distance.

There was a lot of trial and error to put each aspect of the painting in the correct place when viewed, and math is not my strong point! As this was built for Western Australia’s Bricktober Exhibition, I calculated the height and distance of the average adult viewer from the build and optimised

A closer look at some of the building details of this MOC.

The shoes are a clever use of a LEGO slope part.

The face is actually headlight bricks and sloped parts—the eyes are hinted at, but not built! The hair and mustache are all SNOT (sideways) built.

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This view shows the joint between the 3-D and 2-D part of the build.

the layout for that. This means the background picture frame is not as high as the original painting, as the base, after foreshortening, completes the height dimension.

Another view of the figure.

What was your hardest challenge with this build?

When starting to plan this build, I knew I wanted to include at least one large character. I am intrigued by the incredible character MOCs I see online. I have experimented a lot, trying to achieve different build techniques.

Characters are hard, but I love the challenge!

While I had technical and mathematical challenges creating the background, my biggest challenge was building the man. I chose the scale I did because I wanted to use skeleton arms for his fingers. This is also the reason why his skin is tan, as skeleton arms only come in a few colours. His clothing was very challenging as I own a limited range of parts in dark tan, and I rebuilt his body and limbs a few times while trying to achieve an expressive pose. In the end, he was rather fragile, with single stud connections in places such as his shoulders and elbow. If I was to build him again, I would try a completely different inner skeleton technique to make him more sturdy and poseable.

Any big learnings or takeaways from building this MOC? I live rurally, surrounded by trees. I am inspired by nature.

LEGO is incredible, in that such rigid geometric pieces can be used to create beautiful organic shapes! In this MOC, I wanted to build as organically as possible. I also wanted to use LEGO to showcase a piece of Australia that I love.

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Looking head-on, the background smoothly fades into the sculpture.

A close-up on the frame and background.

The two towers.

My son Joshua and I like to build together, and inevitably we choose Australian subjects and stories. We particularly enjoy building birds and animals, as well as human characters.

I love the range of natural greens and browns now available in LEGO. They lend themselves very well to the Australian landscape. I tried to reflect the original colours of the painting as closely as possible within the LEGO colour and part limitations. I got lucky when the olive green leaf pieces covering the background appeared in my closest LEGO Store Pick-a-Brick wall. Interestingly, while olive green and sand green don’t usually go together in a build, they work well as Australian foliage.

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That’s a great way of using what you have. Finally, approximately how long did it take you to construct?

It is hard to know how long it took me to build, as I would work for a few hours, then would have to order parts before continuing the next week. I started the build about two-and-a-half months before Bricktober and finished it when setting up at the exhibition. It was my first time exhibiting (I only started creating MOCs a year earlier), so my build time management wasn’t great!

Thank you again for sharing your story and your amazing creation. I’m sure we will see lots more from you in the future!

You can see more of Jane’s work on her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jane. gibbonseyre/ or you can scan this QR code!

Jane Gibbons-Eyre with her build.

Foliage in the sculpture...

...and in the background.

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XJ-6 Airspeeder

Pierre-Luc Belanger’s XJ-6 Airspeeder

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Article by David Strenzler, Bantha Bricks: Fans of LEGO Star Wars Photography by Pierre-Luc Belanger Galactic greetings! I am David Strenzler from Bantha Bricks: Fans of LEGO Star Wars. As administrators of the best LEGO Star Wars themed group on Facebook, Frank Averstegge, Eloi Parizeau and I witness amazingly creative builds by Star Wars fans worldwide on a nearly daily basis.

Pierre-Luc Belanger is a very active member and MOC builder in our community. I thought it would be great to learn more about this skilled builder and his newest creation: Anakin’s XJ-6 Airspeeder, as seen in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

David Strenzler: How’s it going, Pierre-Luc? The LEGO Star Wars community has known you for some time through the Bantha Bricks Facebook group, where you have impressed everyone with your diverse and creative Star Wars builds. Could you please introduce yourself and what you do?

Pierre-Luc Belanger: Good day David, I am doing pretty good, thank you. I hope everybody feels alright on your side too. My passion for LEGO began when I was eight years old and focused on the LEGO Star Wars theme. I grew up trying to do my best to recreate scenes and sets that LEGO had never released. When I reached adulthood, I lost track of my passion for LEGO for nearly a decade.

Then, while waiting to hear back from applying to the Army, I felt really stressed and bought the Poe’s X-Wing Fighter 75102 to distract myself. My passion returned so quickly that my room was already full in five months.

I joined the Bantha Group, and I saw so many creative builds that I started to do MOCs myself. Today, I do my best to pursue my passion for MOCs and LEGO while being in the Army.

Would you say Star Wars is your favorite theme? Or do you have a surprise theme for us?

Star Wars is definitely my favorite theme. Back when I was a kid, I also owned some Harry Potter, Bionicles and Castle sets. Right now, I still buy some Architecture, Marvel, and

of course, Star Wars sets. I own 155 Star Wars-themed sets in total. My first love began in 1999, with the release of the Lightsaber Duel 7101. The amount of details on the figures and the speeder was mind-boggling to me. Today, LEGO continues to impress me with its building techniques and minifigures.

Why do you choose the LEGO brick as your medium of self-expression? What makes LEGO so special for you?

What I like the most about LEGO is that you can express your personal touch through it in a way that enables people to recognize your style. You can create the same spaceship or speeder as everyone else, but its design can be unique, with details or a structure that nobody else has thought of or done. It’s really one of the best ways to express your passion and creativity. For me, LEGO has always been the best way to relieve my mind from stressful thoughts.

Rey left?

Data File: TXJ-6 Airspeeder The XJ-6 airspeeder was a custom-built airspeeder fashioned to Senator Simon Greyshade’s elitist and performance-driven tastes. Using a prefabricated kit produced by Narglatch AirTech, the senator’s personal mechanics designed and built the custom airspeeder. The XJ-6 was constructed with exotic materials and incorporated advanced systems into its design, including an inertial compensator—typically only used in space-bound craft. Two prominent, oversized turbofan engines at the fore of the craft provided immense power to the XJ-6, and an electrogravitic gyro flywheel allowed the craft to make abrupt turns without requiring traction. The souped-up speeder also sported a custom yellow paint job.

Greyshade used the speeder both as a luxury transport as well as a racing vehicle in Coruscant’s airspeeder races.

Source: Star Wars Wookieepedia

Front view.

Side view.

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I joined a LUG group recently and I was very shy. But a passion for LEGO can easily spark a conversation and connection between strangers. It’s not only about bricks and construction, but commitment and creativity.

Your latest build of the XJ-6 Airspeeder from Anakin Skywalker as seen in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones had everyone drooling—what inspired you to build that particular ship?

To begin with, the scene in Episode II where the XJ-6 appears and two Jedis are chasing a bounty hunter throughout Coruscant traffic to protect a queen, was one of my most favorite scenes in that film. The chase lasts so long and is really important to the story. For the rest of the movie, I couldn’t stop thinking about this scene and was obsessed with the speeder by the end of it. It quickly became one of my favorite ships of the entire Star Wars universe. Plus, LEGO released the Bounty Hunter Chase 7133 set, which amazingly included the XJ-6. The minifigure scale is such a nice build and the colors are fascinating. Every Star Wars ship is gray, black, or white.

This particular ship is full of colors and the design is unique. Since 2002, LEGO never released another remake of the XJ-6. So, I decided to make my own UCS version of the ship.

More views of the airspeeder.

Another area on the layout, with a McEisleys in the distance.

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Can you tell us a bit about the construction of your build—did you use any special techniques?

The first thing I was trying to achieve was to match the colors to those of the original design in the movie. I looked for the available bricks in the color of the ship.

Then, I began with the engines. I clipped seven round 2x2 bricks attached by one 2x2 plate modified with bar frame octagonal at the end. Then, I clipped eight 1x8 plates and I added some random bricks and minifigures tools. This makes a pretty good engine and can be used for several spaceships. I continued the construction with the main core of the ship. I really wanted to have a stable and strong build. I put 4x4 Technic brick frames and I added some plates so the ship would not be flimsy. The next step was the seat and the control panel. I saw how LEGO created their seat in the UCS A-Wing and I looked at the original design of the XJ-6 in the movie. The seat was the same. I modified the seat from the UCS A-Wing and added it to my build. The real challenge was the back of the speeder.

The ship has a unique rounded back engine style. It was a real challenge with the available bricks. I added two curved wedges on both sides, and I think the result gives an accurate look. To achieve a good levitating effect, I added six 2x2 bricks under the speeder. In the end, it’s exactly what I wanted to build, and I am pretty satisfied with how faithful it is to its representation in the movie.

Looking at the engines.

Which of the design elements of your Airspeeder are your favorite?

Seats and controls.

My favorite design element is definitely the engines. The two engines combined have 186 parts. It’s one of the only airspeeders whose engine you can actually see. All other spaceships, except for the podracers, have their engines hidden. It was really important to make this one as precise and detailed as possible. The amount of detail you can create with just plates and spares was pretty fun.

How did you figure out how to build such an amazing and seemingly accurate speeder?

I own the visual dictionary from Episode II and it shows every detail of every spaceship in the movie. The XJ-6 was in the book, and it features a really good drawing of the speeder. The way they describe the speeder is amazing. It was pretty helpful for designing the front of the speeder.

For the back, I watched the scene in the movie several times and I used the set that LEGO released in 2002. With this combination of pleasant tools, I was able to create the XJ-6.

Did you freestyle build the design, or did you use a computer design program to lay it out first?

To maximize my space for exhibiting my collection, I keep a very small inventory of bricks. So, I always use Stud.io from Bricklink to first design my MOCs and then I order the bricks from Bricklink. Eloi Parizeau introduced me to the Stud.io application and I was so excited. He taught me how it works and showed me many tricks. I started with very small builds, then moved onto bigger ones. I discovered that I could also make PDF instructions of my creations.

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While making this build, were there any moments when you felt stuck? If so, how did you overcome that obstacle?

Oh yes, I was stuck for almost six months because of the back of the speeder. Everything I was trying was not working. It was so frustrating because it was 80% complete. During this time, I practiced with several different and smaller builds, while also developing many new techniques. I eventually updated 80% of the main build without finishing it. When I figured out how to do the back engine and the back-up light, it was finally complete, and I spent almost two weeks making the instructions for it.

What advice would you give to someone who would like to build a Star Wars vehicle of their own?

My piece of advice would be to choose a spaceship that reflects you and that you love enough to dedicate many hours to developing it. I chose this particular speeder because I’ve been obsessed with it since my childhood.

This is a unique speeder in the Star Wars franchise and it deserves much more attention. Choose your own ship that appeals to you and give it your best.

Are any instructions of your designs available to the public? If so, where can they be found?

You can find my instructions on the Rebrickable website, under my pseudonym Jedi Pl: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-132480/Jedi%20 Plb/ucs-anakin-airspeeder-xj-6/#details Rear view.

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72

Do you have any final thoughts that you would like to share?

All I can say is thank you for the article and the interview, it was really unexpected. Thanks to Bantha Bricks and everyone involved for this opportunity. My advice to everyone who wants to start doing MOCs is just to start with a small build and familiarize yourself with the process. It takes time and patience. Let your creativity take over, and have fun with LEGO because there is no limit.

To see more amazing builds, cool contests and giveaways and family-friendly discussion about everything Star Wars brick, check out the Bantha Bricks: Fans of LEGO Star Wars Facebook group at: http://www.facebook.com/groups/starwarsLEGOgroup or banthabricks.com or scan the QR code here!

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THE

UPDATE #2

PACIFIC COMICS COMPANION

by STEPHAN FRIEDT

Author STEPHAN FRIEDT shares the story of the meteoric rise of the Schanes brothers’ California-based imprint PACIFIC COMICS, which published such legends as JACK KIRBY, SERGIO ARAGONÉS, STEVE DITKO, NEAL ADAMS, MIKE GRELL, BERNIE WRIGHTSON, and DAVE STEVENS. From its groundbreaking 1981 arrival in the fledgling direct sales market, to a catastrophic, precipitous fall after only four years, THE PACIFIC COMICS COMPANION reveals the inside saga, as told to Friedt by BILL AND STEVE SCHANES, DAVID SCROGGY, and many of the creators themselves. It also focuses on the titles and the amazing array of characters they introduced to an unsuspecting world, including THE ROCKETEER, CAPTAIN VICTORY, MS. MYSTIC, GROO THE WANDERER, STARSLAYER, and many more. Written with the editorial assist of Eisner Award-winning historian JON B. COOKE, this retrospective is the most comprehensive study of an essential publisher in the development of the creator’s rights movement. Main cover illustration by DAVE STEVENS. SHIPS DECEMBER 2023!

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MATT FOX (1906–1988) first gained notoriety for his jarring cover paintings on the pulp magazine WEIRD TALES from 1943 to 1951. His almost primitive artistry encompassed ghouls, demons, and grotesqueries of all types, evoking a disquieting horror vibe that no one since has ever matched. Fox suffered with chronic pain throughout his life, and that anguish permeated his classic 1950s cover illustrations and his lone story for CHILLING TALES, putting them at the top of all pre-code horror comic enthusiasts’ want lists. He brought his evocative storytelling skills (and an almost BASIL WOLVERTON-esque ink line over other artists) to ATLAS/MARVEL horror comics of the 1950s and ’60s, but since Fox never gave an interview, this unique creator remained largely unheralded—until now! Comic art historian ROGER HILL finally tells Fox’s life story, through an informative biographical essay, augmented with an insightful introduction by FROM THE TOMB editor PETER NORMANTON. This FULLCOLOR HARDCOVER also showcases all of the artist’s WEIRD TALES covers and interior illustrations, and a special Atlas Comics gallery with examples of his inking over GIL KANE, LARRY LIEBER, and others. Plus, there’s a wealth of other delightfully disturbing images by this grand master of horror—many previously unpublished and reproduced from his original paintings and art—sure to make an indelible imprint on a new legion of fans. SHIPS SEPT. 2023!

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THE MAGAZINE FOR LEGO ENTHUSIASTS OF ALL AGES!

2023

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BRICKJOURNAL magazine (edited by Joe Meno) spotlights all aspects of the LEGO® Fan Community, showcasing events, BRICKJOURNAL #82 people, and models every issue, with Disney’s 100th anniversary contributions and how-to articles by top Celebrating in LEGO! Disney Castles with MARTIN builders worldwide, new product intros, HARRIS and DISNEYBRICK, magical builds JOHN RUDY and editor JOE MENO, and more. Available in both FULL-COLOR by instructions to build characters, plus: print and digital editions. Print subscribers Nerding Out with BRICKNERD, AFOLs by GREG HYLAND, step-by-step “You Can get the digital version FREE!

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Head to the city: Ellis City by GARETH and CATHY ELLIS, New Hasima by STEFAN FORMENTATO, and Fabuland City by STEVEN LAUGHLIN! Plus a wealth of other MOCs (”My Own Creations”) are showcased, along with: Nerding Out with BRICKNERD, AFOLs by GREG HYLAND, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions

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Celebrate Spring with AMADO PINLAC and JAMES ZHAN’s botanical LEGO® builds!

Learn how to grow a brick garden of your own with some of the best builders in the LEGO community! Plus: AFOLs by cartoonist GREG HYLAND, step-by step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd’s DIY Fan Art, Minifigure Customization with JARED K. BURKS, and more! Edited by JOE MENO.

LEGO® PHOTOGRAPHY, with guest editor SHELLY CORBETT! SCOTT MURPHY on how he brings his whimsical ideas to life, WENDY VERBOOM photographs LEGO minifigures meeting nature, and ARVIN COLOMA shows how to photograph LEGO in unexpected places! Plus BRICKNERD, AFOLs by GREG HYLAND, building instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, and JARED K. BURKS’ Minifigure Customization!

Visit the BRICK ANIMAL KINGDOM with with KEN ITO’s amazing ocean creatures, fascinating woodland creatures by MIRO DUDAS, and the animal creations of FILBRICK! Plus: Nerding Out with BRICKNERD, AFOLs by GREG HYLAND, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, Minifigure Customization with JARED K. BURKS, and more! Edited by JOE MENO.

The fast-changing world of MECHA! Learn how to build mechs with some of the best mecha builders in the world: BENJAMIN CHEH, KELVIN LOW, LU SIM, and SAM CHEUNG! Plus: AFOLs (“Adult Fans of LEGO”) by cartoonist GREG HYLAND, step-by step “You Can Build It” instructions

by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd’s DIY Fan Art, Minifigure Customization with JARED K. BURKS, and more!

Amazing LEGO® STAR WARS builds, including Lando Calrissian’s Treadable

by JÜRGEN WITTNER, Starkiller Base by JHAELON EDWARDS, and more from STEVEN SMYTH and Bantha Bricks! Plus: Minifigure Customization by JARED K. BURKS, AFOLs by GREG HYLAND, stepby-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK (including a LEGO BB-8), and more! Edited by JOE MENO.

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BRICKJOURNAL #73

BRICKJOURNAL #72

BRICKJOURNAL #71

BRICKJOURNAL #70

BRICKJOURNAL #69

Board ANTOINE HUGUERRE’s Big Thunder Mountain! Go to Monstropolis to help Sully find Mike Wazowski in BRANDON JAMES’ Monsters, Inc factory! Plus, more intricate STAR WARS creations by builder LEE GOLDMAN, nerding Out with BrickNerd, AFOLs by GREG HYLAND, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions

by CHRISTOPHER DECK, and Minifigure Customization with JARED K. BURKS!

LEGO® COLOR! A mosaic by Bricknerd’s DAVE SCHEFCIK, CAZ MOCKETT and her monocolor habitats, flowers and other creations by INEZ VAQUEZ, STEVEN SMYTH’s intricate Star Wars builds, “AFOLs” by GREG HYLAND, step-bystep “You Can Build It” instructions

by CHRISTOPHER DECK, Minifigure Customization with JARED K. BURKS, and more!

LEGO® photography with Toy Photographers Blog founder SHELLY CORBETT, and photographers ASTRID HEYLAND, NATASJA VOS, and MARCO ZANCONI offer their favorite tips and tricks to make your creations look great!

Plus, STEVEN SMYTH’s Star Wars builds, instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, Minifigure Customization with JARED K. BURKS, and more!

LEGO® brick-built Edwards Island by DALE HARRIS of HarrisBricks! The hot rods of PAUL SLUITERS! Rocket to outer space with SCOTT BOWMAN and JOE CHAMBERS’ Space Shuttle Discovery set! Plus, Star Wars builds with STEVEN SMYTH of Bantha Bricks, BrickNerd, step-by-step building instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, and Minifigure Customization with JARED K. BURKS!

Starship builders NICK TROTTA and ATTILA GALLIK, TIM GODDARD’s space builds which have been featured online and showcased in the book LEGO Space: Building the Future, STEVEN SMYTH’s intricate Star Wars builds, “AFOLs” by Greg Hyland, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, Minifigure Customization by JARED K. BURKS, and more!

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#68: Women of LEGO building!

#67: Best friends & Disneyland Paris!

#66: LEGO brick photography!

#65: Happy holiday building!

#64: Classic LEGO themes re-imagined!

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#62: LEGO Trains!

#61: LEGO figure building!

#60: Spooky LEGO building!

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#57: Microscale LEGO building!

#56: Life-size LEGO!

#55: LEGO heads & tails!

#54: Top secret LEGO!

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A landmark edition, celebrating over a decade as the premier publication for LEGO® fans! #53: Video games LEGO-style!

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#51: LEGO Steampunk!

#50: double-size Anniversary Book!

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#35: History in LEGO bricks!

#34: LEGO Comics!

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#32: LEGO Art!

#31: LEGO bricks with character!

#30: LEGO Architecture!

#29: TECHNIC Building!

#28: The LEGO Movie!

#27: LEGO Iron Builder contest!

#26: LEGO Creatures!

#25: LEGO Medieval Castle building!

#24: LEGO Trains!

#23: LEGO Star WarsTM!

#22: LEGO Plane building!

#21: LEGO Car building!

#20: LEGO Superheroes!

#19: LEGO Events issue!

#18: Japanese LEGO creations!

#17: LEGO Space War!

#15: LEGO Mecha!

#13: Event issue!

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MINIFIGURE CUSTOMIZATION #1 AND #2

YOU CAN BUILD IT, BOOK 1 and BOOK 2

JARED K. BURKS shares his knowledge of the techniques he uses to alter the lovable LEGO® Minifigure into any character you can imagine! #1 offers step-by-step tutorials on decal design and application; color alteration; custom part modification and creation; plus tips on minifigure displays and digital photography to capture your custom figures in the best light! #2 presents advanced techniques: advanced decal application; custom part modification and creation; 3-D printing; advanced painting techniques; lighting figures with LEDs or EL wire; tips on minifigure displays; and a Gallery from top customizers, with their best tricks and tips!

From the producers of BRICKJOURNAL MAGAZINE comes a new series of books, compiling STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS by the LEGO fan community’s top custom builders!

BOOK ONE is for beginning-to-intermediate builders, and features instructions for LEGO creations from a fire engine and Christmas ornaments to miniscale models from a galaxy far, far away! BOOK TWO is for intermediate-to-advanced builders, with more detailed projects to tackle, from a miniscale yellow castle and miniland people, to a mini USS Constitution! Together, these books take you from novice to expert builder, teaching you key building techniques along the way!

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Last Word that I missed receiving onstage a couple of years ago—I was at a dinner that ran a touch late), and those are awards for efforts that I cherish the effort more than the reward.

This award is different. For one thing, the award is for what I am doing, not what I did. Each issue is a look at a few people that are pushing the community in building or other efforts, and I am happy that BrickJournal is being noticed.

I’m also grateful to those who contribute and read the magazine.

We won!

This time on Last Word, I’m showing a pic from BrickCon 2022. This was taken during one of the downtimes. The guy to the left of me is the first coordinator to BrickCon, Wayne Hussey. What we both are showing are awards given by BrickNerd.com for contributing to the LEGO fan community.

Wayne got his award for starting and running BrickCon (which is the oldest continuous LEGO fan convention in the US). This was his first year as a builder, as he retired.

Me? I got my award for the magazine. And usually, I don’t put much behind receiving awards—I have won building awards at conventions (in fact I won an award at BrickCon

And thanks to Dave Schefcik and BrickNerd for the award and for contributing to BrickJournal. If you want to know more about this hobby, drop

by BrickNerd.com This year BrickCon moves to a new place and time—instead of October, the convention is in September in the Seattle area. I’m putting in a little nudge for all of your readers to think about attending—I’ll be there!

Til next issue—build on!

That Joe Meno Guy

79

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RETROFAN #21

RETROFAN #26

RETROFAN #28

RETROFAN #29

RETROFAN #30

The saga of Saturday morning’s Super Friends, Part One! Plus: A history of MR. T, TV’s AVENGERS (Steed and Mrs. Peel), Daktari’s CHERYL MILLER, Mexican movie monsters, John and Yoko’s nation of Nutopia, ELIZABETH SHEPHERD (the actress who almost played Emma Peel), and more! With ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, MARK VOGER, & MICHAEL EURY.

The BRITISH INVASION of the Sixties, interview with Bond Girl TRINA PARKS, The Mighty Hercules, Horror Hostess MOONA LISA, World’s Greatest Super Friends, TV Guide Fall Previews, the Frito Bandito, a Popeye Super Collector, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

The story behind BOB CLAMPETT’s Beany & Cecil, western queen DALE EVANS, an interview with Mr. Ed’s ALAN YOUNG, Miami Vice, The Sixties’ Wackiest Robots, Muscle-Maker CHARLES ATLAS, Super Powers Team—Galactic Guardians, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns

by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

The Brady Bunch’s FLORENCE HENDERSON, the UNKNOWN COMIC revealed, Hanna-Barbera’s Top Cat, a Barbie history, RANKIN/BASS’ Frosty the Snowman, Dell Comics’ Monster SuperHeroes, Slushy Drinks, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

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RETROFAN #22

RETROFAN #23

RETROFAN #24

RETROFAN #25

Meet JULIE NEWMAR, the purr-fect Catwoman! Plus: ASTRO BOY, TARZAN Saturday morning cartoons, the true history of PEBBLES CEREAL, TV’s THE UNTOUCHABLES and SEARCH, the MONKEEMOBILE, SOVIET EXPO ’77, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns

by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Surf’s up as SIXTIES BEACH MOVIES make a RetroFan splash! Plus: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, ZORRO’s Saturday morning cartoon, TV’s THE WILD, WILD WEST, CARtoons and other drag-mags, VALSPEAK, and more fun, fab features!

Like, totally! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Meet the stars behind the Black Lagoon: RICOU BROWNING, BEN CHAPMAN, JULIE ADAMS, and LORI NELSON! Plus SHADOW CHASERS, featuring show creator KENNETH JOHNSON. Also: THE BEATLES’ YELLOW SUBMARINE, FLASH GORDON cartoons, TV’s cult classic THE PRISONER and kid’s show ZOOM, COLORFORMS, M&Ms, and more fun, fab features! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Interviews with Lost in Space’s ANGELA CARTWRIGHT and BILL MUMY, and Land of the Lost’s WESLEY EURE! Revisit Leave It to Beaver with JERRY MATHERS, TONY DOW, and KEN OSMOND! Plus: UNDERDOG, Rankin-Bass’ stop-motion classic THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY, Christmas gifts you didn’t want, the CABBAGE PATCH KIDS fad, and more!

Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Meet Mission: Impossible’s LYNDA DAY GEORGE in an exclusive interview!

Celebrate Rambo’s 50th birthday with his creator, novelist DAVID MORRELL! Plus: TV faves WKRP IN CINCINNATI and SPACE: 1999, Fleisher’s and Filmation’s SUPERMAN cartoons, commercial jingles, JERRY LEWIS and BOB HOPE comic books, and more fun, fab features! Edited

by MICHAEL EURY.

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RETROFAN #16

RETROFAN #17

RETROFAN #18

RETROFAN #19

RETROFAN #20

An exclusive interview with Logan’s Run star MICHAEL YORK, plus Logan’s Run novelist WILLIAM F. NOLAN and vehicle customizer DEAN JEFFRIES. Plus: the Marvel Super Heroes cartoons of 1966, H. R. Pufnstuf, Leave It to Beaver’s SUE “Miss Landers” RANDALL, WOLFMAN JACK, drive-in theaters, My Weekly Reader, DAVID MANDEL’s super collection of comic book art, and more!

Dark Shadows’ Angelique, LARA PARKER, sinks her fangs into an exclusive interview.

Plus: Rankin-Bass’ Mad Monster Party, Aurora Monster model kits, a chat with Aurora painter JAMES BAMA, George of the Jungle, The Haunting, Jawsmania, Drak Pack, TV dads’ jobs, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by FARINO, MANGELS, MURRAY, SAAVEDRA, SHAW, and MICHAEL EURY.

Our BARBARA EDEN interview will keep you forever dreaming of Jeannie! Plus: The Invaders, the BILLIE JEAN KING/BOBBY RIGGS tennis battle of the sexes, HANNABARBERA’s Saturday morning super-heroes of the Sixties, THE MONSTER TIMES fanzine, and more fun, fab features! Featuring ERNEST FARINO, ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW!, and MICHAEL EURY.

Interview with Bond Girl and Hammer Films actress CAROLINE MUNRO! Plus: WACKY PACKAGES, COURAGEOUS CAT AND MINUTE MOUSE, FILMATION’S GHOSTBUSTERS vs. the REAL GHOSTBUSTERS, Bandai’s rare PRO WRESTLER ERASERS, behind the scenes of Sixties movies, WATERGATE at Fifty, Go-Go Dancing, a visit to the Red Skelton Museum, and more fun, fab features!

MAD’s maddest artist, SERGIO ARAGONÉS, is profiled! Plus: TV’s Route 66 and an interview with star GEORGE MAHARIS, MOE HOWARD’s final years, singer B. J. THOMAS in one of his final interviews, LONE RANGER cartoons, G.I. JOE, and more! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

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New from TwoMorrows!

ALTER EGO #182

ALTER EGO #183

ALTER EGO #184

BACK ISSUE #144

BACK ISSUE #145

Golden/Silver/Bronze Age artist IRV NOVICK (Shield, Steel Sterling, Batman, The Flash, and DC war stories) is immortalized by JOHN COATES and DEWEY CASSELL. Interviews with Irv and family members, tributes by DENNY O’NEIL, MARK EVANIER, and PAUL LEVITZ, Irv’s involvement with painter ROY LICHTENSTEIN (who used Novick’s work in his paintings), Mr. Monster, FCA, and more!

Known as one of the finest inkers in comics history, the late TOM PALMER was also an accomplished penciler and painter, as you’ll see in an-depth interview with Palmer by ALEX GRAND and JIM THOMPSON. Learn his approach to, and thoughts on, working with NEAL ADAMS, GENE COLAN, JOHN BUSCEMA, and others who helped define the Marvel Universe. Plus Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, FCA, and more!

BRONZE AGE SAVAGE LANDS, starring Ka-Zar in the 1970s! Plus: Turok—Dinosaur Hunter, DON GLUT’s Dagar and Tragg, Annihilus and the Negative Zone, Planet of Vampires, Pat Mills’s Flesh (from 2000AD), and WALTER SIMONSON and MIKE MIGNOLA’s Wolverine: The Jungle Adventure. With CONWAY, GULACY, HAMA, NICIEZA, SEARS, THOMAS, and more! JOHN BUSCEMA cover!

SPIDER-ROGUES ISSUE! Villain histories of Dr. Octopus, Lizard, Kingpin, Spidey’s mob foes, the Jackal and Carrion, Tarantula, Puma, plus the rehabilitation of Sandman!

Featuring the work of ANDRU, SAL BUSCEMA, CONWAY, DeFALCO, GIL KANE, McFARLANE, MILLER, POLLARD, JOHN ROMITA JR. & SR., STERN, THOMAS, WEIN, WOLFMAN, and more!

DUSTY ABELL cover!

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All characters TM & © their respective owners.

An FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) special, behind a breathtaking JERRY ORDWAY cover! Features on Uncle Marvel and the Fawcett Family by P.C. HAMERLINCK, ACG artist KENNETH LANDAU (Commander Battle and The Atomic Sub), and writer LEE GOLDSMITH (Golden Age Green Lantern, Flash, and others). Plus Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt by MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and more!

BACK ISSUE #147

COMIC BOOK CREATOR #31 KIRBY COLLECTOR #88

RETROFAN #27

Great Hera, it’s the 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF BACK ISSUE, featuring a tribute to the late, great GEORGE PÉREZ! Wonder Woman: The George Pérez Years, Pérez’s 20 Greatest Hits of the Bronze Age, Pérez’s fanzine days, a Pérez remembrance by MARV WOLFMAN, a Wonder Woman interview with MINDY NEWELL, and more!

With a stunning Wonder Woman cover

by Pérez!

MEN WITHOUT FEAR, featuring Daredevil’s swinging ’70s adventures!

Plus: Challengers of the Unknown in the Bronze Age, JEPH LOEB interview about his Challs and DD projects with TIM SALE, Sinestro and Mr. Fear histories, superheroes with disabilities, and... Who Is Hal Jordan? Featuring CONWAY, ENGLEHART, McKENZIE, ROZAKIS, STATON, THOMAS, WOLFMAN, & more! GENE COLAN cover!

THE COLLECTORS! Fans’ quest for and purchase of Jack’s original art and comics, MARV WOLFMAN shares his (and LEN WEIN’s) interactions with Jack as fans and pros, unseen Kirby memorabilia, an extensive Kirby pencil art gallery, MARK EVANIER moderating the 2023 Kirby Tribute Panel from Comic-Con International, plus a deluxe wrap-around Kirby cover with foldout back cover flap, inked by MIKE ROYER!

Interview with Captain Kangaroo BOB KEESHAN, The ROCKFORD FILES, teen monster movies, the Kung Fu and BRUCE LEE crazes, JACK KIRBY’s comedy comics, DON DRYSDALE’s TV drop-ins, outrageous toys, Challenge of the Super Friends, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns

by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

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BACK ISSUE #146

MEN WITHOUT FEAR, featuring Daredevil’s swinging ’70s adventures!

Plus: Challengers of the Unknown in the Bronze Age, JEPH LOEB interview about his Challs and DD projects with TIM SALE, Sinestro and Mr. Fear histories, superheroes with disabilities, and... Who Is Hal Jordan? Featuring CONWAY, ENGLEHART, McKENZIE, ROZAKIS, STATON, THOMAS, WOLFMAN, & more! GENE COLAN cover!